Coated in Darkness
by Projekt-Z
Summary: Aqua finally gets out of the realm of Darkness, but is thrust into a new, darker world where the creatures of the night are much more vicious... REWRITE UNDERWAY
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Devils meet Keyblades**

"Dante, why don't you ever clean up after yourself! Ugh, this is why we never get any clients!" A girl with curly blonde hair squeaked loudly. She was a girl who Dante was asked to take care of, but he never got rid of.

"What's the damn point? It isn't like we'll keep the shit clean, besides we'll just get more clients when the demons start acting up again, right Zell?" Dante, the white haired man who was known for his red coat and uncaring attitude, sighed and kicked his feet on his desk which was littered with old pizza boxes and moldy pizza and leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Well, Patty, Dante's got a point. We don't get much work now because of the fall in demon activity... But if something was to happen and demons start appearing again, then we'll probably be able to get rid of our debt." Zell leaned on a windowsill, with his arms folded and glanced out at the dark night's sky that was illuminated by the various neon lights in the distance.

Zell was a red eyed brown skinned teen of slightly above average height and body build; his clothing color scheme was similar to that of Dante's with the red and black alternating, but he wore black long shorts and a black school sweater vest and a red button up short sleeved shirt that stopped at the elbows, and he wore a pair of black fingerless gloves. He had a red wolf's tail as well. His shoes, swordsmanship, and intellect of all things technologic and demonic were the things he prided himself on. He was rather slim for someone who could eat like a Viking god. He was usually serious, but that was when work was involved, any other time, like now, he tends to be aloof and immersed in his own thoughts, he has scarlet hair and eight bangs that would hang over his eyes, and two weapons; one he made himself, a gun blade with a black desert eagle pistol for the handle and the blade was crafted from a red metal that shimmered and moved like fire and was seven feet long, and a weapon that he awoke with just recently, which was a pair of giant skeleton keys that were the basic design of classic keys that interlocked with one another and fused with a black blade shooting from the top. One of the keys was gold on top and silver on the bottom, while the other key was silver on top and gold on the bottom. The two keys fuse at the handles and interlocked at the portions that were to go into the keyhole, Zell dubbed the weapon "Two become One" due to the two keys fusing into one blade. It's length was twice that of any normal single handed sword, but Zell wielded it with no effort at all.

Zell just joined Dante's ranks a year before, after saving Patty from a horde of a thousand Fire scythe reapers. Zell found them just as the ambush was taking place and helped ward the demons away, and because Patty asked, Zell agreed to join the rag tag team.

Patty, or Patricia Lowell, was supposed to be the heir to a wealth of estates and such, but was an orphan who was used as a decoy in one of Dante's earlier jobs. She was left with him at the age of twelve, and five years have passed since that job and now Patty has become more mature in both body and mind. Her body was more curvatious and developed, and often times Dante would remark that she was one of the sexiest jobs that he took, but never got. She didn't understand that and thought Dante to be a pervert from that point on. She has trained under Dante's acquaintances, Trish and Lady, who are both fellow demon hunters, but Patty seems to be the one whose job is to keep the office clean, Zell helps out as well, and despite her nagging and chronic complaining, she seems to enjoy hanging around the too laid back pervert demon hunter. Patty is one year younger than Zell, and she uses two platinum pistols with silver and Adamantium bullets. She also has a habit of stealing Dante's strawberry sundaes, although she says that she "charges a strawberry sundae" for her work.

"It's HIS debt and we got stuck trying to help him pay it! Ugh, I'm tired of being here. Zell, do you wanna go out and see the sights?" Patty corrected and left to get a jacket from the closet.

Zell smirked and looked out the window once more and noticed a shooting star streak across the sky, and he noticed that it was pretty close to the city as well._"Well, you don't see many of those here..."_ Then a horde of black demons zoomed after the shooting star. Zell's eyes widened and the phone rang. Dante kicked down on the desk and caught the phone and his eyes shot open.

"Devil May Cry, You say 'em and we slay 'em... Okay, Morrison... Yeah, alright... Great, meet ya there. Well you two," Dante started and spoke loud enough for Patty to hear in the closet, "Looks like something's come up, and we need to take it down." Dante smirked and went to the same closet that Patty just went into.

Zell looked toward the closet and sighed, then as if Zell signaled the event, a scream and gunshots were heard from the closet and Dante flew out with his coat and equipment on.

"Don't you ever get tired of being shot in the head, Dante?" Zell and Patty both asked simultaneously, but Zell's tone was dry like it always was, and Patty's face was red and she was breathing heavily.

"Heh, only by you Patty... Only by you." Dante said coolly and pulled the bullet from his head then tossed it to Zell.

Patty shrieked and yelled "You are unbelievable!" She stormed out the door and Zell and Dante followed after her.

"Zell, I think she digs me..." Dante smirked and closed the door to the building.

"What gave you that idea?" Zell asked and continues his walk.

"No clue, but I think we got a job. Nothing too heavy, just cleaning up a few demons on the east side, you know, near that old warehouse across the street from the hotel?" Dante scratched the back of his head then pointed in them in the right direction.

"Well, at least you got a gig!" Patty yelled, apparently she was still mad about the event prior, she was a few feet ahead of the boys, but could still hear what they were saying.

"I'll try to calm her down." Zell sighed and walked up to catch Patty and the two exchanged word, but Dante, who tried to eavesdrop, couldn't hear a thing, but based on Patty's expressions, he knew that Zell was working that strange magic that he had with the ladies, it even worked on Trish and Lady.

"Man, that's seriously fucked up. I try, and I either get stuck with bills, or bullets in my damn skull, but him... He gets all the good attention. What... the... hell?" Dante grumbled under his breath as he watched Patty wrap her arms around Zell.

A girl with short blue hair shot forth from the dark night sky, she was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, with two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts, on the girl's arms were two white bell sleeves and two silver metal pieces, and on her hands were gray fingerless gloves, and on her legs were long thigh length stockings that stopped near her upper thigh, and on her waist were two strips of blue cloth that draped over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner, and she wears pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each. The girl crashed in the middle of a street that separated a bright and tall hotel from a rusted warehouse that wasn't used for over fifty years. She slowly sat up and grabbed her head; she opened her eyes to reveal a strange bright blue color within them.

"Ugh... Where... where am I?" The girl glanced around and spotted the bright hotel nearby.

"Huh, well maybe I could see if that place can help me out." The girl started slowly toward the hotel, she took three steps, then was tackled back several feet and into the old warehouse and followed by ten dark creatures, each with twelve tentacle-like arms and skulls for faces.

The girl was shocked at what she saw, but stood and summoned her weapon, which was shaped like a key, but was the length of a normal single handed sword. The Key was white at it's hilt, and the blade part that held the three prongs was black. She was injured, but regardless of what was going to happen she wouldn't go down without a fight. The demons roared loudly and shook the earth below then the demons and the girl dashed at each other, each determined to destroy the other.

Zell and Dante both felt the surge of demonic energy and went into serious mode. Zell and Dante shot looks at one another then nodded. Zell released Patty from his shoulder and he jumped then released a burst of energy from his shoes and began to fly toward the destination.

"Dante, what's going on?" Patty asked; she was a bit flustered by the sudden jolt from Zell's body.

"The small activity we were headed for just surged one hundred fold. We've gotta help him out, but we can't get there as fast as he can, so he'll be on his own until we get there." Dante's eyes were on high alert and he grabbed Patty by her hand and they jumped on the nearest Motorcycle they could find and zoomed off toward the warehouse.

On their way there, a few small demons came in waves, and Patty gave a few rounds of silver to them while Dante curved and drifted throughout the streets.

"Well, Patty, looks like we'll be getting that business that you wanted." Dante smirked and spun the bike in a 360 degree turn, the fire from the muffler burning the few extra demons in their way.

"Good, so now I won't have to see you all the damn time!" Patty yelled and unloaded on another wave of demons, these were looking like the tentacle monsters that the blue haired girl was in battle with.

The blue haired girl sliced a demon in half, and then surrounded herself with fire, ice, and wind. The incoming demons were burnt, frozen, or ripped to shreds by the magic, then she took her key into her hand and crossed her arms in an "X", then a long aura took the form of a blade on her key and it extended well past ten feet in length. More demons surrounded her and she spun the aura blade around several times to cut the demons and then brought the aura crashing down and sent a shockwave to the grounded demons and wiped them from existence. More demons shot up from the ground and these looked like the grim reaper, except they were red tinted instead of the eerie blue that they usually were. The girl crossed her arms and released another form. She held her keyblade in mid air, and began to gracefully evade the attacks from the reapers. The girl spun to the left and two reapers lodged their scythes into one another's skulls, so the girl blew them both away with a fire spell, then she threw the keyblade into the air and put up a force field and guarded against a surrounding horde of the reapers, and lodged their scythes in her barrier. She gasped at how close the scythes were to her face, but quickly replaced that look with one of great vigor, then she caught the keyblade and held it in the air and shouted "Release!" and sent the plates of her barrier to slice the reapers into confetti. However, she missed one reaper, and it slashed her left shoulder and sent blood sprawling all over the floor. The girl let out a cry and drove the keyblade into the reaper's head, then cast Mega Flare and nuked the single reaper in a fiery flash of light.

A third wave of demons appeared and jumped high into the air, but was cut down by Zell. Each of the reapers burst into flames and Zell landed right in front of the girl.

"Who are you?" Zell asked and turned toward the entrance of the warehouse.

"My name is Aqua, and what's your name, and why do you have the X-blade?" The girl replied, and cast a healing spell on her wounded arm.

"Aqua, eh? Well, the name's Zell." Zell smirked and stood at the ready with the Two becoming One in his hand.

"Zell, hmmm... You never told my why you have that weapon." Aqua replied and readied herself for the next battle.

"I don't know how I got this thing, but I do know that it comes in handy." Zell stated and lowered his guard.

"Well that's strange, it doesn't look like the one Ven had..." Aqua mumbled and lowered her guard as well.

"So what are you doing in a place like this, Aqua?" Zell asked simply.

"I... I'm looking for my friends, Terra and Ventus. Have you seen either of them?" Aqua replied with some hope in her voice.

"What'd they look like? Although, no one's been around here for a long time." Zell was thinking about the names, they seemed familiar to him.

"Ventus is a bit shorter than me and has golden blonde hair. Terra is a bit taller than me and has spiked brown hair." Aqua answered simply, hoping that description would be good enough.

"Hmm, well I haven't seen them yet, but why don't you stay with us while you search. We could always use the extra power." Zell replied, and almost broke Aqua's spirits.

"Who's 'Us'? There's just one of you here..." Aqua asked she was a bit downcast now that she truly didn't know where her two brothers were.

"Oh, the others will be on their way, just come with me. I'll try to help you as much as I can." Zell stated and started toward the front of the warehouse, his tail appeared as he walked away.

"Oh, Y-you have a tail? What type of tail is it?" Aqua was shocked to see that she was getting help from an animal.

Zell sighed and stopped walking for a moment, "It's a wolf tail." He sighed again then said, "So, you coming or what?" The tail faded away with a fiery whoosh and Zell resumed his walk.

"Y-yeah, I'm coming." Aqua was shocked at what she just saw, but quickly ran so she could catch up with her apparent ally.

Just as the two were crossing the street, Dante and Patty pulled up and skidded to a stop in front of Zell.

"Well, looks like you cleaned up pretty nice, Zell." Dante smirked and cocked an eyebrow a his red headed accomplice, then turned to observe Aqua's body figure, to much of her embarrassment, as she blushed when she caught the eye of the demon hunter.

"It's not what it looks like. She just needs a place to crash while she looks for her friends. You wouldn't mind having another girl around, would you, Dante?" Zell's dry voice was that of Squall's from _Final Fantasy VIII_.

"Well, she is certainly a beauty..." Dante continued to eye the Keyblade Master.

"Her name's Aqua, and she was the reason for the demonic surge just now, more or less due to her strange weapon." Zell introduced Aqua to Dante and he smirked again.

"Well, this little bluebird would be welcome at Devil May Cry anytime she needs something." Dante stated and revved the bike and skidded off with a stunned Patty on his back.

"Well, there you have it. You can stay with us." Zell stated with little interest and started the way Dante and Patty had gone.

"Thank you, Zell" Aqua stated and followed Zell to Devil May Cry.

When the two reached the doors of the shop, gunshots were fired once again. Zell stopped and held out an arm to signal Aqua to stop as well.

Aqua looked at Zell and sighed, "So they're always like that?"

"Not always, just when we are about to get some work, or when we just finish a good job." Zell scratched his head and thought for a bit, "Or maybe Patty's getting jealous?"

"Who? Oh, you must mean that girl that was riding with that white haired guy that kept staring at me?" Aqua recalled and blushed a bit.

"Yep, they'll do introductions when we get in there." Zell stated and walked in, then led Aqua to the couch underneath the stairwell, and he returned to his post on the windowsill with his right leg in the window and his right arm leaning on it.

"Sorry about the mess. Our leader here doesn't like to keep up appearances." Patty stuck her tongue out at Dante, who was riddled with bullets in various areas of his body, then Patty turned back to Aqua. "My name's Patty Lowell, I meant to tell you when I first met you, but things happened kind of fast."

"No, It's fine. I'm Aqua. So what type of work do you guys do here?"

"Well we hunt-" Patty started then Dante turned toward the bathroom and, with Zell, finished "Creatures of the Dark."

"Right, those. Are you familiar with those beings?" Patty asked and placed her full attention on the new girl.

"Well kind of, you see, where I'm from we called these monsters 'Unversed', but they looked very different from the ones I've fought back home." Aqua placed her index finger on her chin and recalled the last time she was faced with monsters from the Dark Realm.

"...Patty, she just got here. I don't think you should just dive into stuff like that. I think Aqua just needs some time to adjust to things here, then we'll get that information. Understand?" Zell stopped Patty from starting her barrage of questions.

"...Fine..." Patty pouted and folded her arms with a huff and Aqua let out a small giggle.

"What's funny, Aqua?" Zell cocked an eyebrow and stared at the blue haired girl.

"Nothing, you just reminded me of Terra for a second..." Aqua's smile faded, and as she remembered the night before her Mark of Mastery exam with Terra and Ventus, she let out a heavy sigh.

"Well... you can talk about your friends whenever you want, but Patty, don't make her nervous or uneasy." Zell stated monotonously as he oftentimes would.

"I won't make her nervous... that's Dante's job." Patty remarked and Dante heard her.

The famed devil hunter emerged from the hot shower with steam pouring from his hair as he scratched his scalp and shook the remaining water from it and retorted, " Get real Patty, besides, the only person here that's worn their welcome out is you. If you wanna take a hike, then be my guest." He smirked and resumed his lounging at his desk with his legs crossed on the top of the desk, and his arms were folded with the picture of his mother right next to his heel.

"Please, Dante, you have gotten so used to me being here that if I were to leave you would be worse off than usual."

"Ha! Sure I would..." Dante remarked then his sharp sky blue eyes locked onto Aqua, and she felt his stare.

"You two need to give it a rest. We'll probably get that money from Morrison from this job in the morning, so let's get some rest. You know how he gets sometimes, so good night to you all." Zell interjected with his expressionless voice and started toward the upstairs.

"Aqua, come with me. You can sleep in the room with me." Patty jumped up from the couch and pulled Aqua by the hand.

"Okay, but shouldn't I sleep on the couch, or something?" Aqua asked, still slightly rattled from the monsters that attacked her a few hours ago.

Patty was using the guest room as her bedroom. It was pink and white and a little bit of blue was seen here and there. The bed was something taken from a fairy tale book, as it had drapes and curtains and very soft pillows and blankets with frills.

"Well, I hope you like what you see. I made all of the drapes and sheets for the bed." Patty walked over to the bed and began to change her clothing.

"You made all of this yourself? When did you have the spare time?" Aqua asked and looked around at the typical girl's room with a hint of awe in her voice.

"Well, it was mostly because of Zell. He helped me with the cleaning and even brought me some sewing kits. So I would trade shifts with him and sew some of my things and the we'd clean a bit together and repeated the process." Patty replied and removed her shirt and bra, then moved to the nightstand and put on a snug white T-shirt and started to unbutton her pants.

"It doesn't look like he would be the type to do things like that..." Aqua remarked softly and sat on the side of the bed that was opposite the side that Patty was on.

"Well, it just goes to show that you can never judge a book by its cover." Patty stated with a yawn, then gave Aqua a teal colored night gown to wear for the night.

"Um, are you sure this is alright?" Aqua reluctantly took the night gown and proceeded to remove her own clothing.

"You can wear it. Good night." Patty added sleepily and lay in the bed and covered herself with the blankets on the bed, and Aqua followed suit.

The two girls slept together in the same bed, but facing opposite directions, Zell returned to the main floor and slept on the couch in his beast form, and Dante slept in his chair, like he would always. As they slept peacefully in their own places, the group of three had no idea what was in store for them tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - What the Heart Feels**

The entire area was shrouded in darkness, the only thing visible was a very disfigured castle and there were skeletal figures in shredded white cloaks attacking the castle. Inside the castle were Terra, and Ventus. They were battling the white cloaked skeletons and were losing very badly. Ventus was covered in black marks and dark red stains. Terra's body was covered in cuts and various tears riddled his clothing. The two boys were riddled with wounds and the only who could save them was her. She ran as fast as she could, but seemed to stay in the same spot she was in. The faster she ran, the slower and more agonizing the two boys' demises were becoming. The two boys were doubled over, and three skeletal monsters appeared in front of the two boys, the skeletal axes were held high, and fear and anguish filled the two boys' eyes.

"Aqua! Please, we need you!" Terra called out.

"Aqua, we won't be able to hold on much longer..." Ventus cried, and tears slid down his face.

"Terra, Ventus! NO, please! Hold on a bit longer!" Aqua yelled from her position, but it was if they didn't hear her.

"Ven, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I let this happen." Terra turned his bloodied face toward the young keyblade wielder.

Ventus looked at Aqua, with fear and then looked to his older brother figure and blinked in slow motion, then in an instant there was a chopping sound and the two boys lay on the ground of the castle with a red liquid leaking from their bodies. Aqua dropped her head and began to weep into her hands.

"Hey! Aqua, wake up!" Patty shook the blue haired wielder with vigor, and almost rolled her out of the bed.

"Huh? Oh, thank goodness... It was just a dream..." Aqua sighed and began to breathe heavily.

"...More like a nightmare..." Patty mumbled and put her hand on Aqua's shoulder in a caring manner.

There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Patty called out from the bed, next to her new friend.

"It's Zell. What happened? I heard screaming. Patty, you have to let me in." Zell sighed and turned the handle on the door.

"We're... naked... We'll be down in a minute." Patty lied and sighed when the lock stopped Zell from entering the room.

"Fine. Just be quick. We have a job." Zell stated and returned to the lower level of the office.

Aqua's face was covered in sweat, and her eyes were filled with tears. Patty was by her side while she gathered her composure and the two finally made their way down to meet with Trish.

"Damn, Patty. It took you long enough! The hell were you doing up there?" Dante growled and crossed his arms.

"Look, Dante, just shut up! Aqua had a nightmare and she's wrecked right now." Patty snapped back, Aqua was in her arms, shivering like a puppy in the winter.

"Is everything all right, Aqua?" Zell asked and made his way over to Aqua and looked her in the eyes.

"So, what's the job, Trish?" Dante stated, taking the attention from Aqua and putting it onto Trish. Zell sighed and held his head in his hand for a second then took Aqua from Patty and told Patty to get the details of the next job.

Trish, who looked exactly like Dante's mother, was a curvatious woman who had a thing for black leather. Her shirt was sleeveless and cut down the middle in the shape of a lightning bolt. She had blonde hair that stopped right under her neck, as she had it cut it recently. Her weapons of choice were twin Desert Eagle pistols, and the Sparda blade. The Sparda blade was a memento from Dante's father, but he gave it to Trish. The Sparda blade was composed of muscle tissue that appeared as it would when burnt, and the hilt even had a moving eye inside of it.

"At the bridge, you know, the one you totaled..." Trish began and a smile appeared on her face.

"IT WASN'T ME! It was that damned red eye motorcycle demon! DAMN!" Dante snapped and slammed his fist into the wall.

"Whatever you say... Anyway, on that bridge was a kid in a black hooded robe with golden blonde windswept looking hair. He was fighting some skinny ass silver demon that had a zipper on it's face. The demon was massive and I couldn't even scratch it." Trish reported exactly what she had seen.

Zell wiped Aqua's eyes with his hand. "Aqua, weren't you looking for a boy like that?"

Aqua sniffed and held his hand, "Yeah, it might be Ven. Let's go."

The two stood and followed Patty, Dante and Trish out the office, hand in hand unconsciously. Dante and Patty got into his red Mercedes Benz and Trish hopped on her red motorcycle, and Zell and Aqua got on the motorcycle that Dante had taken the night prior.

Patty looked to see Zell and Aqua riding together, and noticed that Aqua's body was a lot closer to the driver's than it was supposed to be. Aqua's breasts were pushed upon Zell's back and her hands were wrapped rather tightly, but he seemed not to care. Patty watched Aqua's face as it slowly stretched into a peaceful smile as she held Zell close to her.

_"It's just because she misses her friends, and she probably hasn't been on a motorcycle before... She just misses her friends... that's all"_ Patty tried to tell herself, but couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Wow, Patty. You've been staring at wolfy and bluebird there, for a while. You aren't...jealous... are you?" Dante noted with a cocked eyebrow as he hit the brakes on the Mercedes.

"I-I'm not jealous... We're at the bridge, right?" Patty changed the subject, but Dante was not easily swayed.

"It's in your eyes, Patty." Dante stated and jumped out of the Mercedes, and glared up at the dark, stormy clouded sky.

Zell and Aqua skidded to a halt right next to Dante's car, and Patty looked at Aqua'a eyes. In her eyes was a small glint of hope. Aqua missed her friends and wanted to see that they were fine. Zell stepped near Patty and tapped her shoulder. Patty looked sad and Zell gave her a warm hug, then the three, Zell, Aqua, and Patty glared at the top of one of the pillars to see a tall silver monster battling a kid with two key shaped weapons.

Aqua gasped, "Zell, that's Ven!"

"You sure?" Zell cocked and eyebrow and the Two become One appeared in his hand.

"I'm certain." Aqua replied with a nod, then pulled out a blue Wayfinder star and smiled as it emitted a bright glow.

"I've got one of those too." Zell noticed the Wayfinder and pulled a red Wayfinder from around his neck.

"B-But I only made three..." Aqua looked confused and noticed the red Wayfinder looked exactly like one that she made, except it was red.

"Hey bluebird, wolfy! Get your asses in gear!" Dante yelled and started toward the pillar with Trish following closely behind him, their main weapons in hand. Zell and Aqua followed and Patty stayed with the vehicles.

The dark clouds emitted streaks of lightning and crashing thunder. The rain pelted the black hood of the boy's cloak and the exposed parts of his two key type weapons. In the right hand was a black key that had chains embedded in it. The left hand held a small white key that held a star in the part where the prongs were. Facing these two weapons was a large, bulky, shiny silver and had strange almost dancer like movements.

The hooded boy dashed at the creature and slashed vertically with both weapons. The monster took the hit and the area that was hit, simply moved and snapped back into place.

"Hmph, so that's its power." The hooded boy ran toward the silver monster as it jumped around in midair. The monster hung itself upside down and began waving it's claw-like hands at it's assailant.

The hooded boy deflected the arms of the monster with one key and impaled the monster with the other and it burst into water.

"That was too easy..." The hooded boy noted, then glanced up at the clouds and noticed a giant that was silver and white descending from the skies.

The monster was hefty, but made no noise as it descended upon the pillar on the bridge. The monster stretched itself and wrapped itself around the hooded boy, and began to apply pressure with each passing second.

Dante and Trish both slashed at the monster and hit it, causing it to reel and release the blonde kid. The blonde kid nodded thanks and stood side by side with the two demon hunters, all now in battle stances, and the three were joined by Zell and Aqua shortly thereafter. When Aqua looked at the boy in the cloak she gasped and went over and called his name.

"Ven? Is that really you?" Aqua asked as she made her way across the small pillar toward the boy who bore a ridiculously strong resemblance to Ventus.

The boy turned and said "...Ven? My name is... Roxas."

Aqua was taken aback by the news. "But you look exactly like him. You look just like Ventus." The two looked each other in the eyes, then Roxas dropped to his knees, causing both Keyblades to fade and he began holding his head with both hands and screaming in agonizing pain. Aqua was right. It WAS Ventus, and Roxas began to recall their last adventure together.

"Ventus... My heart's true name? Or was it ...Sora?" Roxas was struggling to remember, and their time was running short because the silver creature had reappeared, and this time with backup.

"Ven, you have to remember! Look at this. Don't you have the one I made for you?" Aqua crouched and supported her friend, and held out her Wayfinder charm and Roxas' eyes widened.

He pulled an item that was exactly like Aqua's Wayfinder, except his was a lime green color. "So it's true. I really am Ventus..."

Zell stepped in front of the two friends and held out the Two become One and sliced several of the smaller silver monsters in half. The bursts of bubbles rained down onto the ground of the pillar and left a small puddle for Roxas to look into. His reflection split in half, one side was of Sora's reflection, and the other side was of Ventus. Then he remembered why it was like that.

"Aqua, do you recall our last fight together?" Roxas asked solemnly, the old yet fresh memory began to burn in his eyelids.

"Yeah, you were holding the X-blade, and Vanitas took over your body." Aqua placed her gentle hands on Roxas' shoulders to try and comfort him.

"Inside me, that's where I was when you fought Vanitas with the X-blade... I destroyed the X-blade and was sent into the heart of another boy... named Sora." Roxas stood and tears streamed down his face and he stood with his fists clenched tightly.

"Well, you're back now and that's all that matters." Aqua smiled and stood with Roxas.

"I'll let you call me Ven, but that's no longer my name." Roxas stated and turned his head to the battlefield, his left handed Keyblade turned into the Lost Memory, in place of the Oathkeeper, and he held the Lost Memory backhand.

Dante and Trish paid no attention to what was happening behind them, they just kept the large silver creature on the defensive. Dante went head-on, while Trish provided support by attacking the sides. Roxas, Zell and Aqua rejoined the battle, only to finish it with flair. Dante carved his sword into the ground before releasing an uppercut and sent the monster into the air. Aqua jumped and began the final attack.

"Aqua, you're up!" Roxas called out, and Aqua slashed the silver monster down the middle.

"Ven, Zell! Finish strong!" Aqua yelled as she turned around.

Zell and Roxas cross slashed the silver monster, and Dante and Trish stood next to one another and readied their guns, Dante's was cocked sideways and Trish's was aimed normally and was under Dante's. The two demon hunters smirked and said, "Jackpot." Then they fired two beams of energy from the guns, Dante's was red and Trish's was a lemony yellow color. The two beams of light swirled and pierced the silver creature and it had fallen over the edge of the pillar and began to degrade and when it hit the ground. By the time it hit the ground, there was nothing but bubbles on the low traffic bridge.

The team jumped down from the pillar on the suspension bridge and landed with ease. "That felt pretty good." Dante smirked and rolled his shoulders in satisfaction.

"I agree. Let's head back and finish the transaction." Trish suggested and got on her motorcycle.

"Hey, Trish. Looks like you'll have a special guest riding with you." Dante said and pointed back at Roxas as he jumped into his car.

"Yeah, I know. So kid you want a ride or what?" Trish asked and put her helmet on and revved the bike.

"Yeah." Roxas nodded and got on the bike with Trish and wrapped his arms gently around her waist.

"Well, another job in the bag... Looks like things are picking up." Zell sighed with a smirk and revved his bike.

"Yeah, I agree." Aqua smiled and held Zell's body tightly and rested her head on his back. Aqua enjoyed the warmth of Zell and listened to his soft heartbeat while the team retreated back to Devil May Cry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – Encounter with the Past**

The next day was uneventful, as the new recruits of Devil May Cry were out having a field day. The members under twenty; Patty, Aqua, Roxas, and Zell were to go to the park, and do whatever they pleased for today was Dante's payday.

"You guys do realize that we shouldn't go anywhere that we'll have to charge Dante's tab, right?" Patty asked from a swing that she was sitting on.

"Seriously? I'm getting hungry. We've been out here for a bit and I'll have to admit that I didn't eat at the office, because I didn't know what was edible." Roxas joked and got a laugh from Aqua and Patty.

"Well, I have some cash. It's not much, but we should be able to get a few good bites wherever we go. I'm kinda hungry as well." Zell stated and checked his wallet and flashed a fat wallet packed with bills, then he stuffed the item back in his pocket, everyone gasped at the wallet, then Aqua turned to Roxas, a thought haunting her.

"So, Ven, have you seen Terra?" Aqua asked with a small smile of hope on her face as she went back and forth on the swing next to her friend.

Roxas looked down and closed his eyes and began to recall his last adventure. "...Sorry Aqua... I haven't seen Terra, but I did see someone who shares his light... and darkness..." Roxas replied with a sigh, knowing Aqua was disappointed to a certain extent with this news.

"Well, who was it? Was it a little boy with white hair?" Aqua recognized who Roxas was describing.

"He had white hair, but he wasn't a little kid. Not anymore." Roxas remarked and smirked, he remembered when he had crossed blades with the white haired boy at Memories' Skyscraper.

"...So he grew up. Was he good with the key blade?" Aqua asked, snapping Roxas out of his memory.

"Yeah, in fact we took out a large sum of heartless together." Roxas recalled once more.

"I don't mean to interrupt you guys, but Patty and I are gonna grab a bite. You guys coming?" Zell called from the entrance of the park.

Aqua was surprised at how the two moved so quickly, and when she looked at Roxas and noticed that he was halfway with them. "Uh! Hey, wait up, Ven!" Aqua called after Roxas and jumped off the swing and ran after him.

The group of four laughed and started out of the park and headed toward the nearest restaurant they could find. Aqua was on Zell's right arm, almost draped on him, and Patty was on the opposite side looking at the spectacle, slightly agitated at what she saw.

"What's the matter Patty? Jealous?" Roxas asked and smirked when Patty's face went red.

"N-no! I-I'm not jealous… much..." Patty stammered and mumbled the last word.

"Well, I don't mean to steal anyone's boyfriend, but I didn't know Zell was dating you, Patty." Aqua looked at Patty, trying not to sound mean, but it didn't work.

"We-well... we aren't but..." Patty started to say, but stopped when she saw Aqua drop onto the ground.

"Aqua, are you all right?" Zell and Roxas asked as they helped the blue haired master up onto her feet.

"... I just started feeling really sick just now... Can we go back to the office?" Aqua sighed and held her head as Zell took her in his arms, bridal style.

"I'll take Aqua back to DMC; you two go ahead and get a bite. Here's a few, it should help you." Zell stated as he fished out a couple hundred dollar bills and handed them to Patty, while holding Aqua in his other hand.

"Okay, thanks Zell." Roxas waved as Zell turned and started toward Devil May Cry.

Dante sat at his desk with his legs kicked across the top, like he always did, but unlike any other time, he wore a smug smirk across his face as Zell and Aqua entered the office. Dante's eyes snapped up as the two recruits entered and Aqua hid her face in Zell's shoulder to hide her blush.

"Well, well... Looks like the Bluebird got to the Wolf before Blondie did. What a surprise." Dante stated with a nod as his eyes met Aqua's figure in Zell's arms.

"Dante, it's not like that, you know..." Zell stated dully as he sat Aqua down on the couch and she placed a hand on her head, and her cheeks were red.

Zell paid no attention to Aqua's face, as he gently placed a hand on her neck and noticed she had a light fever. "Looks like you might need to call it quits on the next mission." Zell stated and turned and headed for the bathroom to fetch a cloth for her fever.

Dante smirked and watched Zell go into the back, and then he turned to Aqua. "Well, well, looks like he's into you." Aqua's face gave Dante enough to confirm that she had something for him.

Her face deepened it's already red color and she locked her gaze at the ceiling fan. "I-I... uhm, it isn't what you think it is..." Aqua sighed and rolled so that her back was now facing the lead devil hunter of the team.

"Well, it has to be something between you two. I've seen it in your eyes, bluebird. I'll figure out what it is eventually, you know." Dante smirked again and leaned back a bit further in his chair. At that moment, Zell returned with two small wet towels and approached Aqua.

"Sorry I took so long. The water takes forever to warm." Zell let a small smile appear on his face as he placed a towel on her head, and the other on her neck.

"Thank you, so much, Zell. I appreciate this." Aqua smiled a little bit as well and slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

_There was nothing but darkness in this space... There were two figures hovering in the distance. One was a boy with spiked white hair and he seemed to be unconscious, it was apparent by the way he was draped on the other figure's shoulder. The other figure was a slender armor covered person who seemed to have a feminine build. The armor that covered the person was a moonlight blue and silver with black parts covering certain areas. The two were flying in a mysterious air ride type vehicle. They were headed toward a small opening that was at the top of the darkness._

_"There's only enough time for one of us to escape... Looks like it'll have to be you, Terra..." Aqua's voice came from the armor as it burst into overdrive as it continued to race to the portal of light._

_Aqua gave a heavy sigh and realized that the end was nearing. She had only one other choice... Aqua sighed and relinquished her armor and handed her Rainfell Keyblade to the unconscious Terra and waved her armor off as it zoomed through the light portal._

_"I'll have to do it this way... I'm sorry Ven, looks like I'll be a little late to wake you... but I promise that I'll be there to wake you... One day..." Aqua sighed again and smiled faintly as she descended further into the dark realm._

"Aqua! Aqua! Hey, wake up!" Three voices called to the blue haired Keyblade Master, waking her up from her sleep.

Aqua rose drowsily and wiped her eyes and yawned, "What happened guys? How long was I sleep?"

"You were out for three hours." Zell stated with folded arms as he turned to head out of the office.

Aqua opened her eyes and stood, "You have something to do? Can I come along?" she stretched then approached Zell at the entrance.

"What are you going to do Zell?" Roxas asked as he took a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, is it important?" Patty chimed in as well and joined Roxas on the couch.

Zell shrugged and looked at Roxas, "It's nothing serious... and Aqua, you can come if you want. It doesn't make a difference to me." Then he resumed his path out the door. Aqua followed and was easily keeping step with Zell.

"So, Aqua…" Zell started casually and held the red Wayfinder in his hand.

"Yeah? What is it, Zell?" Aqua asked before she noticed the Wayfinder charm in his palm.

"Can I see yours?" Zell asked, he looked uneasy about something, but Aqua was unsure of what it was.

"Sure, here you go." Aqua replied softly and with a smile on her face.

Zell took her Wayfinder and looked at his. They two charms were identical, the only difference was that his was red and hers was blue. The boy looked confused, but kept it hidden from the blue haired Keybalde Master with little difficulty.

"When did you make these?" Zell asked as he studied the two Charms intently as they walked down the darkened road.

"I made them before my Mark of Mastery Exam… They were supposed to bring us, me, Terra, and Ven, good luck and to never drive us apart, but…" Aqua replied slowly and inhaled deeply the let out a heavy sigh. She was disappointed in how her first mission as master turned out, it was sadder than she had anticipated.

"You don't have to go on any further, unless you want to. I don't want to force and bad memories up…" Zell stated and noticed how close the Keyblade Master was to crying. It was apparent that she missed her older brother figure, Terra, who she had lost to the darkness.

"Thanks…" Aqua sighed and wiped her eyes and kept walking with Zell, and she unconsciously grabbed his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Zell's eyes widened a bit as she grabbed his hand, and then he smiled to himself as the blue haired girl sighed and held his hand gently. _"Her hands are really soft… I never thought they would feel like this, after all, she is a Master…"_

The two walked for a while, until they were in front of a huge building. The building was a tall as the Memories' Skyscraper from where Roxas was from, but it seemed haunted. The windows were dimly lit with a strange light that appeared to move, as if there were eyes in each of them. Zell eyed the building darkly, then lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Aqua looked up to see the skyscraper blink. She let out a soft gasp, trying to hide her surprise.

"Well, looks like we're here." Zell released Aqua's hand and folded his arms as he stared up at the building.

"What is that thing?" Aqua asked, now even wearier of what she may have gotten herself in to.

"I assume it's a possessed building, judging by its looks, I assume it may have been an artificial something or other…" Zell deduced and spotted a small Unversed symbol near the tip of the building.

"It's an Unversed! But I thought we got rid of those!" Aqua exclaimed and summoned the Master Keeper Keyblade.

"Well, this IS a city filled with dark desires…" Zell stated calmly and summoned his X-blade and hoisted above his shoulder, and placed his other hand in his pocket.

"So you mean that all of the negative emotions here… created this thing?" Aqua cocked an eyebrow at the theory, but felt it was possible.

"If that's how the Unversed are created, then yes." Zell stated and eyed the building again, obviously trying to form a plan.

Aqua looked a bit uneasy, but did her best to keep it hidden. The sky became darker, and the lights in the street dimmed. Just as the lights dimmed, there was a whistling noise and several Neo Shadows appeared, along with some navy blue versions of them, which Aqua quickly identified as Neo Floods. The two key bearers stood back to back, ready to cover each other's back should they need it.

"Zell, be careful. They have similar attack patterns to each other, and it looks like there are a lot of them around."

"Yeah, looks like we're surrounded, and that building is the one keeping the tides against us."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I say, we tear through and seal the building. Well, you would have to do that, because I'll be the one covering you as you do your thing."

"Alright. Let's go."

The two key bearers dove into the hoards of Neo Shadows and Neo Floods. Aqua was closer to the Unversed Skyscraper, and cut through the monsters as if they were tissue, and Zell was attracting more and clearing the surrounding area of the monsters, and kept them at bay. Aqua carefully aimed her Keyblade at the roof of the building, and fired a beam of light from it. Zell dashed to her side as three Neo Shadows attempted to maul the female and extinguish the light. Zell appeared and cut them to ribbons and looked to Aqua and she nodded. He placed his hand over hers and the light beam grew stronger, until a small bubbling noise was the only thing left in the air.

The building had lost its dark demeanor and regained it's somewhat brighter luster. The dark coating had oozed away and evaporated into the air. The building had turned a cement grey color and the windows returned to being the dark, as if the lights were shut off inside. The two turned around to see a boy with white hair that covered his eyes in intense combat with a Darkside, and a Twilight Thorn.

"Zell, let's help him." Aqua stated, Zell looked at her and nodded.

The Twilight Thorn had swatted the boy back and he skidded past Aqua and Zell. The boy stood slowly, his injury proving to be more than it seemed, and he staggered a bit and used his weapon, which was the Way to the Dawn Keyblade, as a crutch to stand up on.

"Another one?" Zell raised an eyebrow as he looked at the gasping kid with curiosity.

Aqua rushed and went to the boy's side and cast Cura on his person, effectively healing all of his wounds.

The boy looked at Aqua and a gasp was heard from him. "Thanks; wait a sec… You… You're the girl from the Islands ten years ago!" The white haired boy exclaimed and jumped backward to avoid a sharpened arm for the Twilight Thorn.

Aqua cart wheeled to avoid the same attack, but looked a bit confused. "What are you talking about?" She apparently hadn't expected the boy to turn into what he was now.

"You don't remember? You told Sora to help me, should the darkness ever get out of hand." The boy replied and held his Keyblade up once more, preparing for an attack.

Aqua's eyes widened in realization, "You were with the kid that looked like Ven!" She smiled a bit and quickly cast Reflect to protect herself from the hook of the Twilight Thorn.

"Yeah, His name's Sora. Have you seen him?" The boy asked and jumped over her shoulder and released several pale purple fire balls at the Twilight Thorn.

Aqua ignored the move she recognized as Terra's Dark Firaga, and shot a ball of electricity at the Twilight Thorn, effectively disorienting it with several jolts of electricity. "Sorry, but I haven't seen anyone by that name around here…"

The boy sighed and dropped his head for a second, "Aw man. It looks like I lost Kairi as well…" He jumped at the incoming attack from the Twilight Thorn, and ran up the arm that was stuck in the ground.

"Wait, that little red haired girl's with you too!" Aqua looked shocked at what happened in her time in the Dark Realm, but she quickly followed the boy up the arm and provided some support Fire spells as she ran behind him.

Zell was locked in combat with the giant heartless, Darkside. Darkside gave a fierce punch toward the X-blade wielder, and he dodged it with no difficulty. Darkside's arm began to seep into the ground and produce Neo Shadows. The Neo shadows dove at Zell, and he easily wiped them from existence, then started up the arm and jumped from the shoulder and sliced the Darkside in half, and a giant heart escaped from it. When he looked back to find Aqua, she was talking to the boy with white hair, they both seemed surrounded by some type of liquid that looked like soap.

"Well, she came to our Islands a few years after you left… She, Sora and I have become best friends since then." The boy explained and put his head down and sighed, he was looking for a logical reason his two friends would have disappeared.

"Well, I'm Aqua. Do you remember Terra? He was the one who gave you the Keyblade." Aqua stated, now remembering the two boys from the Islands.

"My name's Riku, and I remember him. He wanted me to protect my friends with this weapon." Riku stated and summoned the Way to the Dawn and looked at it intently.

"Well, I think you're off to a good start, especially since you care for your friends." Aqua smiled kindly at the boy. The smile reminded him of Kairi.

"Well I don't think I am. I gave in to the darkness…" Riku sighed and mentally kicked himself for being a fool.

"Well, you are doing better now. You are looking for your friends, and I think you'll find them. Just be patient as you search. Come with us, we are looking for our friends as well." Aqua smiled to Riku and motioned for him to follow her.

Zell approached Aqua and Riku, he didn't speak, but he simply nodded. Another member was added to the ranks of the Devil May Cry hunters, and another Keyblade wielder was discovered and save from the clutches of darkness.


End file.
